Poem I
I saw an Image, all of massie gold,Placed on high upon an altare faire,That all which did the same from farre beholdeMight worship it, and fall on lowest staire.Not that great idoll might with this compaire,To which th’Assyrian tyrant would have madeThe holie brethren falslie to have praid.
But th’altare on the which this image staidWas (O great pitie!) built of brickle clay,That shortly the foundation decaid,With showres of heaven and tempests worne away;Then downe it fell, and low in ashes lay,Scorned of everie one which by it went;That I, it seing, dearelie did lament.
Words in this poem
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- idoll n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
- brickle a.
- Brittle; easily broken. [OE. brekil, brokel, bruchel, fr. AS. brecan, E. break. Cf. Brittle.]
- shortly adv.
- In a short or brief time or manner; soon; quickly. [AS. sceortlice.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem I is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume 5, Project Gutenberg ebook #10602; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Spenser, Poem I, in Amoretti and Epithalamion, and Other Poems (1595), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10602, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/spenser-amoretti/poem-i.html, id L23737.
Form and metre
Poem I is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCC, the Rhyme royal. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). Rhymes that have moved apart since the poem was written: opprest / rest, marre / warre, nere / were, assurance / endurance, great / threat and 2 more.
See other poems in rhyme royal, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABBCC goldA · faireB · beholdeA · staireB · compaireB · madeC · praidC
- 2 ABABBCC staidA · clayB · decaidA · awayB · layB · wentC · lamentC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I saw an Image, all of massie gold, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Placed on high upon an altare faire, | 10 | ·˘········ |
| That all which did the same from farre beholde | 10 | ·········· |
| Might worship it, and fall on lowest staire. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Not that great idoll might with this compaire, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To which th’Assyrian tyrant would have made | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The holie brethren falslie to have praid. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But th’altare on the which this image staid | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Was (O great pitie!) built of brickle clay, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That shortly the foundation decaid, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘·· |
| With showres of heaven and tempests worne away; | 10 | ·/·/·/˘·˘/ |
| Then downe it fell, and low in ashes lay, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Scorned of everie one which by it went; | 10 | ·········· |
| That I, it seing, dearelie did lament. | 10 | ········˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.